NRA Exceeds Le 39 Bn Target
The National Revenue Authority (NRA) has announced that it has collected Le 1.081 trillion against a half yearly revenue target of Le 1.042 trillion for the first half of 2013 (January – June).
When compared to 2012, this represents a 22% growth in revenue collection in the first half of last year which means that Le 195 billion was collected more for the first half of 2013 with a revenue surplus of Le 39 billion.
Apart from her repugnance to some members of the media, the activities of the Director-General of the NRA are patriotic and not personal or based on political considerations but national development.
The media has been engaged in a campaign to bring to light how NRA is losing millions of Leones without proper investigations. These figures indicate that NRA has been making impressive improvements in its revenue collection.
In 2011 for example, actual revenue collected by NRA grew from Le 501.9 billion in 2007 to Le 1.4288 trillion with an average nominal growth of Le 185.4 billion, when the authority more than doubled its revenue collection for 2009 from Le 700 billion to over Le 1.4 trillion.
This impetus was maintained in 2012 when the authority collected Le 1.874 trillion against a revenue target of Le 1.563 trillion which exceeds actual collection for 2011 by Le 436 billion and exceeded the revised 2012 target of Le 1.853 trillion. The tax revenue to GDP ratio also grew to 12.6% from 11.4% in 2011.
The prudency of accountability has been a feat in recent revenue history, since the Commissioner-General of NRA, Madam Haja Kallah Kamara and team, especially the Finance Director, Abdulai Conteh have been remarkable in transforming the institution by implementing several result-oriented reforms to amplify revenue mobilization.
This initiative has created a modern information technology solution to improve the authority’s business processes and procedures for better service delivery and the redesigning of tax administration on functional lines rather than tax types.
It is unfortunate that while the media constantly points out the excesses and unpatriotic nature of NRA operations, but advantageously, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Kelfala Marah seems comfortable with the ongoing fiscal and prudency concepts of the Commissioner-General and team for efficient performance. NRA is on course to meet its yearly target as it aims to maintain this remarkable performance in the second half of 2013 (July – Dec) for substantial traction of target for tax revenue in 2013.
Furthermore, reintroduction of petroleum exercise through the two-tier petroleum pricing formula which was not in existence in the first half of 2012 and improved collection of minerals royalties in respect of iron ore and diamond have all contributed to the institution surpassing its target.
Other strategies include intensive field audits, on the spot visits to tax payers as well as strengthening tax policy, legislation and formation of an Emergency Revenue Task Force.
By Joseph Saidu N’bompa Turay
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